RAYNHAM— The deli’s sparse. An untouched olive loaf has little company in the cooler.

Customers who don’t favor that particular processed meat may be mostly out of luck shopping at the Raynham Market Basket this week.

Business was down 80 percent at the Raynham grocery store Thursday, according to on-site management.

At least 30 employees took turns collecting signatures from customers and picketing outside along Route 138. They say they’ve gathered more than 5,000 customer signatures in three days, on a petition calling for the reinstatement of axed chief executive Arthur T. Demoulas.

A steady stream of blaring horns flowed from traffic crawling past the store.

Cars were both slowed by construction on the congested roadway, and interaction with the protesters, who, encouraged by audible feedback, conversed with passing motorists and accepted mostly encouraging words of support.

“Right now, I think they’re going to lose,” said Raynham store manager Steve Distasio. “There’s nothing left for customers to buy and we’re not lying down.”

Distasio has 32 years on the job and carried a poster bearing Demoulas’ image as he explored his once familiar store — now alien in its emptiness.

More conspicuous than the empty shelves may be the empty aisles. Only a handful of shoppers pushed carts.

The bakery shelves are bare, but for a few odd cakes. Produce baskets are empty. Fish stocks, frozen and fresh, have been decimated.

Two buses will leave the Raynham Market Basket parking lot at 7 a.m. Friday morning, transporting employees to the Tewksbury headquarters for a 9 a.m. rally.

Standing next to an empty seafood cooler, Distasio pulled a slip of white paper from his pocket.

“Sunday wasn’t bad,” he said, examining the week’s profits. “But we were down 61 percent Tuesday, 71 percent Wednesday, and we will be down about 80 percent today. What will it be on Friday?”

Shopper Jeffrey Lima, of Taunton, approached Distasio with one of those questions grocery store managers field a hundred times daily and can usually answer reflexively.

“If you have cranberry sauce, where would it be?”

Since it’s not a perishable good, Lima was in luck. Distasio pointed to a nearby aisle.

Lima headed toward the canned condiment and leaned over at the waist to reach far back on the shelf for a can from a shrinking stock.

“I hope they resolve this quick,” he said, placing the can in his basket. “Nobody’s winning here.”

Manny Andrade, of Norton, works for Market Basket’s refrigeration department, building new stores across the region.

Page 2 of 2 - “We don’t care if they close all the doors,” he said. “We want them to bring Arthur T. back.”

Andrade helped hook up refrigeration units at the yet-to-be-opened Revere store, and more recently, a new building in Athol.

“Arthur T. is a really good man,” he said while supporting the cause on his day off. “It doesn’t matter if you were here 50 years or started yesterday, he treats you the same. Market Basket is his life. And they want to take it all away from him.”

Demoulas released a statement Wednesday, unveiling news that has reinvigorated some protesters. He and his side of the feuding Demoulas family want to buy the other side’s 50.5 percent share of the company.

“Our offer is a very full and fair one and should meet or exceed a seller’s expectations of the value of the company,” he said. “We care deeply about Market Basket and all of our associates and we want to work together to return the company to its successful model for serving our loyal customers.”

The offer amount has not been disclosed.

Demoulas was fired by a family faction supporting his cousin, Arthur S. Demoulas. The two Arthurs, grandsons of the company founder, have feuded for decades.

The privately-owned Tewksbury -based chain now runs 71 stores in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine.

“This new guy, Arthur S., nobody knows him,” Andrade said, standing at the store’s exit, underneath the electronic eye. “I hope they take the offer and Arthur T. is back in charge by Monday.”

The sliding doors banged open and closed, open and closed, again and again. But no customers came or went.